Brooklyn Excelsiors

Sure, we're bloggers, forward-thinking titans of the information age. But that does not mean we lack historical perspective. We known our Alexander Cartwrights from our Candy Cummingses (Cartwright invented the bullpen car, Cummings invented Big League Chew). Why, I recall a conversation the two of us shared just a few weeks ago in which we discussed the near certitude that Josh Fields and his heavenly stroke are the progeny of baseball's inventor, Elysian Fields. We watched the Burns documentary—at least enough innings to make it an official game. We're so astute when it comes to the history of the game that we can tell you this very post is the 100th in Me & Pedro history. Panoptic, I believe, is the word one would use to describe our outlook on baseball.

I bring this up not to brag, but to inform you that my father was thoughtful enough to give me a heads-up about this interview with But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870 author Peter Morris. Himself a Brooklyn native, listening to this interview my father must have been overwhelmed by childhood memories of watching the Excelsiors play. I kid. He was, of course, a fan of the New York Nine. No, seriously, Brooklyn Dodgers. Heartbroken like all the rest. I think he's yet to admit that he's now a Red Sox fan, but I know he is.

The interview reminds me that I recently read about some new findings by baseball historian John Thorn. See also: this.